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6 Easy Christmas Craft Ideas

12th December 2013

Whether you’re looking to save money on gifts or adorn your home with unique DIY decorations, getting crafty this Christmas is a great way to spend these dark nights. Say goodbye to overpriced decorations, generic Christmas presents and manic Christmas shopping with these easy festive ideas.

We love these ideas that are great for even the most inexperienced craft-maker and don’t require lots of expensive materials either.

1) Making Bracelets

With some shops selling nothing but beads (choosing your beads can be half the fun!) jewellery-making is extremely popular and easy to take up. Making jewellery can be extremely therapeutic and can be as difficult or as easy as you want it to be. From beads to wire there are plenty of ways that you can make your own jewellery that will make ideal gifts for your friends and family.

2) Christmas Card Garland

Already running out of room to stand up the Christmas cards coming through your letter-box? There are only so many that our window-sills will hold!

There are plenty of ways to get creative with displaying your cards but one way that we like is by incorporating it into your banister garland.

What you’ll need: Glue stick, leftover wrapping paper, ribbon, wooden pegs and a craft knife (scissors will do if not!)

What to do: Apply glue to one side of the peg and press your wrapping paper down firmly. Cut any excess paper off with the knife (or scissors). Next, clip a piece of ribbon to the peg and hang on your banister. Peg cards as they arrive!

3) Christmas Crackers

Save yourself the disappointment of tacky toys by making your own Christmas crackers this year. Depending on your budget, you can make this Christmas decoration as cheaply or as expensive as you wish by either using recycled materials (such as last year’s Christmas paper) or by filling the crackers with thoughtful individual gifts.

You’ll need:

Your paper of choice as long as it’s cut into an A4-size, a glue stick, a kitchen roll tube split into three, a snapper (can be bought from any craft shop), ribbon, your chosen toy/filling.

For a clear, step-by-step guide, have a look at this diagram on how to make Christmas crackers.

4) Biscuit Cutter Ornaments

Another idea for a Christmas tree decoration is to turn biscuit cutters into mini photo frames and hang them from the Christmas tree.

You’ll need:

Biscuit cutter, photo, pen or pencil, scissors, glue and ribbon.

What to do:

1) Simply select your photo of choice, place the biscuit cutter over the top of the photo then trace around the biscuit cutter with a pen/pencil.
2) Cut out the photo
3) Thread the ribbon through the top of the biscuit cutter, tie a knot at the top and secure in place with a touch of glue
4) At the back of the biscuit cutter run a small bead of glue along the rim. Press the photo firmly and voila!

5) Sparkling Tree Decorations

Blown light bulbs are perfect items to have around the house for turning into Christmas decorations – a lick of glue and glitter and you’re half way there!

If your old tree decorations are looking a bit shabby, grab an old lightbulb and, using a paintbrush, cover the bulb in glue before dripping it into glitter and leaving to dry.

6) Decoupage Tealight

It’s amazing what you can do with materials lying around the house – turn a jam jar into a pretty tealight holder which will make a great gift or decoration in your own home.

Step One – Decide what kind of look you’d like for your tealight holder – is it a festive design with cut-out shapes or more rustic? Use scissors to cut shapes in the tissue paper or rip instead.
Step Two – Dip the paintbrush in glue and paste tissue paper over the jam jar making sure to smooth out the surface after.
Step Three – Continue decorating until the jam jar is covered and leave to dry
Step Four – Add any additional decorations –glitter, tinsel etc.
Step Five – Add a handle by looping florist’s wire around the jam jar and tying at the other side. Place your tealight inside for a wonderful winter’s glow.

Have you tried any of these before? Do you have a favourite Christmas craft to try at home?

About 'The Thread'

Here at Cotton Traders, we like to do things a little differently. Our reputation has been built on outstanding quality, a sense of community and keeping our customers interests at heart. The Thread is just that – a space for sharing things we know our customers enjoy, whether it’s travel, eating, staying active and healthy or enjoying sneak-peeks behind-the-scenes at Cotton Traders.